Policy paper: Standardized baselines for the CDM – are we on the right track?

The document critiques the CDM's standardized baseline framework, arguing that its one-size-fits-all approach to performance thresholds and benchmarks may lead to both under-crediting and over-crediting of projects. It highlights risks to environmental integrity, particularly because the voluntary nature of these baselines may encourage developers to select them only when they yield more credits than project-based baselines.

• The current CDM framework for standardized baselines may fail to meet its goals because it uses a uniform approach for performance thresholds and benchmarks that does not account for differences in sector, project type, or location, and may ignore evolving trends due to the use of constant benchmarks.
• The voluntary nature of standardized baselines creates a risk where project developers only adopt them if they result in more credits than project-based baselines, which undermines the system's environmental integrity.
• The framework presents significant practical implementation hurdles, specifically regarding the availability of data.

APA

CMW (2012). Policy paper: Standardized baselines for the CDM – are we on the right track? Carbon Market Watch. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2012/11/20/policy-paper-standardized-baselines-for-the-cdm-are-we-on-the-right-track/

Chicago

CMW. Policy paper: Standardized baselines for the CDM – are we on the right track? Carbon Market Watch, 2012. https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2012/11/20/policy-paper-standardized-baselines-for-the-cdm-are-we-on-the-right-track/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=CMW |title=Policy paper: Standardized baselines for the CDM – are we on the right track? |publisher=Carbon Market Watch |date=20 November 2012 |url=https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2012/11/20/policy-paper-standardized-baselines-for-the-cdm-are-we-on-the-right-track/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{cmw2012policy, author = {CMW}, title = {{Policy paper: Standardized baselines for the CDM – are we on the right track?}}, institution = {Carbon Market Watch}, year = {2012}, month = nov, url = {https://carbonmarketwatch.org/2012/11/20/policy-paper-standardized-baselines-for-the-cdm-are-we-on-the-right-track/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }